Question 1: Long-term Objective A

$13,270,044.50
Fiscal Year: 2010

1LA. Identify behavioral and biological markers that separately, or in combination, accurately identify, before age 2, one or more subtypes of children at risk for developing ASD, and evaluate whether these risk markers or profiles can improve early identification through heightened developmental monitoring and screening by 2014. IACC Recommended Budget: $33,300,000 over 5 years.

Objective Cumulative Funding Table

IACC Strategic Plan Objective

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Total

Identify behavioral and biological markers that separately, or in combination, accurately identify, before age 2, one or more subtypes of children at risk for developing ASD, and evaluate whether these risk markers or profiles can improve early identification through heightened developmental monitoring and screening by 2014.

1.L.A. Funding: The recommended budget was met. Significantly more than the recommended minimum budget was allocated to projects specific to this objective.

Progress: More than 40 projects have been supported in this area, but most projects are still in the discovery phase. Identifying reliable early biomarkers has been challenging, but some progress has been made. More work is needed to achieve the full intent of the objective.

Remaining Gaps, Needs, and Opportunities: Remaining research needs include continued discovery of biomarkers, linking biomarkers to treatment response, validation of biomarkers discovered in high risk populations for applicability in the general population, and evaluation of whether these biomarkers translate to improvement in screening and diagnosis real-world settings. There is also a need for biomarkers that are cost-effective.